Mar 2 Riverhead

Thanks to my brother Remy, Will and I spent a belated-wedding gift weekend away in Riverhead, New York. During our journey we made a detour and visited my grandparents who served us a lovely bagel and lox brunch. You can't start a weekend off better than with a good Jewish brunch.

After stuffing our faces, we hit the road. Riverhead is located at the heart of where the North and South Fork diverge in Long Island. The actual town of Riverhead is certainly up and coming and is dotted with restaurants that feature the local and inspired farm-to-table food. Thanks to the rich soil, Riverhead is also the start of the North Fork Winery trail, which boasts dozens of vineyards.

We started our afternoon tasting at Baiting Hollow Farm Vineyard while listening to live folk music and visiting with rescued horses. Our next stop along the trail was at Roanoke Vineyard, where we became chummy with Libby, a very knowledgeable wine lover who took us through an eight-flight tasting. We fell in love with the rich, earthy reds that tickled your palate. Our last tasting was actually in the Tanger Outlet Mall (weird, I know) at Empire State Cellars. We participated in a March Madness Riesling taste-off aka a wine enthusiasts field day. It was quite fun and we met some locals who were obsessed with the tastings.

After sipping our way through the afternoon, we had a drink and split a duck quesadilla at The Riverhead Project; a very chic and unsty lounge and restaurant. For dinner, we nestled in at this cottage-like restaurant called Farm Country Kitchen. It was absolutely darling. We shared an arugula salad, sautéed salmon, and braised artichokes with lobster stuffing. Our dessert was a creme brûlée cheesecake. I know, say no more.